06/12 Perfect day for riding. It rained for a good part of the morning which kept things from getting too hot then it stayed mostly cloudy with a nice breeze. Nothing much in the way of scenery other than a couple small lakes.

I was prepared for a long day but it never came to that thanks to a sign that I hadn’t seen in almost 6 months — a campground. I checked my GPS and saw that it was right next to a lake so I jumped on the dirt road hoping for a nice, lake-side spot with a little store stocked with cold beer. That dream ended quickly but it was just because tourist season is over so most things are shuttered up for the summer including the little store and the restaurant that sat empty. The guy pointed over next to some mangroves and said I could pitch my tent there. After setting up camp I went for a nice, relaxing swim in the turquoise waters of Laguna Bacalar, the second largest lake in Mexico.

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04/09 Had a nice break from the heat thanks to some scattered rain showers and mostly cloudy skies. I’ve never enjoyed riding in the rain so much. I’m officially out of the mountains and in the flatlands now. The jungle I thought would be here is missing though. There are pockets of trees but mostly its farm or grazing land.

Scared a guy with a machine gun today. While riding on a free highway I ran into a toll booth where they wanted a peso to pass. I rode up onto the sidewalk thinking I’d be able to get by without paying. I made it 2 feet before this army guy(?) comes running out of a bunker that I didn’t even see. He pointed over to the sidewalk on the other side so I went over there and passed by the toll.

Further down the road I ran into a checkpoint just before a rainstorm was about to hit. The military guys there let me pass after one of them spent a minute asking about my GPS. He thought I was crazy when he saw I was about to keep riding even though it was going to pour. It did but only for 15 minutes or so.

Camped out a Penmax station (elevation: 14 feet). The spot they pointed me over to is nice. Lot’s of shade, soft grass and flat ground. Cooked up some pasta and canned tuna for dinner. Learned the hard way that a) fire ants live here, and b) they like the juice from tuna cans. I didn’t know Neosporin helped with ant bites. Glad it does.

Now there’s a flock of sheep grazing outside my tent.

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03/09 2 new tires are on the way. I emailed every US distributor in California listed on Schwalbe’s web site and most wrote back pretty fast. No one had the model that Schwalbe recommended though: the Marathon Plus Tour. Schwalbe did offer to send me the tires but shipping would have cost $100. I settled on the same model I have on the rear wheel now, the Marathon Plus. Rivendell Bicycle Works is sending them and I should have them Friday; maybe Monday. Shipping was $40.

I’m having them shipped to a bike shop that I found online. It was my first stop where I got here. The owner speaks English/Spanish but had no motivation whatsoever to help me order the tires. I’ll name names after I pick them up from his store. Bike shop people are either really nice or really dickish. There doesn’t seem to be a middleground.

I cheated and jumped on the toll road today. My GPS showed all kinds of tight, winding turns on the free road and that’s not good sign with all the hills. My legs were starting to feel it and another day of heavy climbing would have hurt. There were some long climbs on the toll road but these roads were designed to nearly identical standards as the US Interstate Highways System so cutouts were made to avoid really steep grades. There are also bridges. There are virtually none on the free roads. If a valley is in the way you are going down it and then right back up.

My friends Marten and Karin are a couple days behind me but we talked tonight and I should have some company for the weekend.

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02/11 I’m not really sure what town I’m in right now but it’s not Nopala de Villagran. That was the closest one and I’m too tired to get up and ask the motel manager. Wherever I am it’s not on the GPS or on the paper map. The town is a decent size so I’m kind of surprised it’s not at least on my GPS.

I was very glad to find a motel room for the night because the day was a long one. I only rode 60 miles but there was 3500 feet of elevation gain that wore me out. That and the brutal wind that luckily was hitting me from the side most of the day. Still made it tough because it kept wanting to blow me into traffic. When I got here I saw a taxi sitting at the side of the road so I rode over to see if there was a motel in town. Just my luck I busted him looking at some porn. Fortunately that’s all he was doing. He was no help anyway so I asked another guy further up the road and he told me where the motel was.

Riding on Mex-57 was horrible. It was 6 lanes the entire way and traffic, especially heavy truck traffic, was constant. I did get to meet a couple pretty cool guys that had stopped ahead of me and were waving for me to come over. Both of them were wheelchair bound but, and I’m not sure how, were able to ride a custom 3-wheel bicycle they had sitting up on top of their car.

When I turned off onto Mex-45 it was like night and day. Very little traffic and a nice shoulder. It didn’t last very long before I had to turn off onto a 2 lane road that’s quiet but whoever thought curbs would be a good idea should be hit over the head. The people that passed were pretty good about moving over because I take up a lot more room when there’s a curb.

The other thing I’ve been seeing a lot of, and it kind of sucks, are flatbed trucks hauling pigs (hogs). The cages they keep them in are very small and you can see them laying on top of each other because there’s no room. Brutal.

I’m also going to stop trying to figure out what state I’m in and then getting the official abbreviation. There are just too many and it’s a pain because I sort my pictures by state and it takes forever.

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12/26 So the grass is greener on the other side. Rain must be plentifully in this area because things are alive and well on this side of the Sea of Cortes. I wasn’t sure what the land was like outside Mazatlan but I’m glad it wasn’t more desert. Baja is the 2nd longest peninsula in the world and pretty much all of it was desert so I had my fill.

I spent way too much time trying to find a place to get some coffee on the way out of Mazatlan this morning. It got to the point that I was about to give up on breakfast and just leave. I ended up having Coke and some kind of shrimp cocktail thing. It was pretty good though.

The ride started off fairly flat but the free highway 15 started meandering back into the hills and stayed that way for the rest of the day. The highway is in a lot better shape than Baja. There are still no shoulders and traffic is heavier but at least there’s not a massive drop if you do have to bail off the road (I didn’t). Saw lots of dead things which made for a stinky ride at times. The biggest thing was a cow. Garbage isn’t as bad as Baja but it can still be nasty in places.

El Rosario is off the main highway and once you get past the huge gate the main road slowly gets smaller as it flows into the homes and businesses that sit side by side on every block. Some (homeless?) guy was standing at the side of the road with his junk hanging out when I first rode past the gate. That kind of ruined the quaint, Mexican village image I’d been forming in my head. The streets are crazy. Very narrow, usually one way and mostly cobblestone which made for some bumpy riding. There’s no way I’m walking around tonight without bringing my GPS. The buildings are very old but things seem like they’ve held together a bit better than the older sections of Mazatlan.

I finally gave up trying to find a motel on my own and asked a guy for help. He pointed up the street and said there was one right around the corner. Sweet. I would have never found it on my own. The only sign is the word “Hotel” painted on a light pole. Paid US $9.60 for a room. I’ve heard about this place from another bike touring web site so I wasn’t that surprised when I discovered how tiny it was or when I saw my very first electric shower head. I tried to ignore the exposed wire while waiting for the water to come out warm which never happened. I ended up taking a very fast cold shower. There are also ants crawling all over the place so I think I’ll sleep with some extra clothes on tonight.

The new seat I bought in Mazatlan hasn’t done anything to help with the chaffing problem I’ve been having for weeks now. After 20 miles it gets to be pretty painful not having 3 layers of skin where you really need it. I stopped and lowered the seat all the way which helped a little. I have one more seat that’s narrower so I’ll give that a shot if this one doesn’t work out. The Brooks went into the garbage before I left. It wasn’t even worth giving it to the bike shop.

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